Illinois Rep. Cynthia Soto, D-Chicago, speaks to lawmakers while on the House floor during a session at the Illinois State Capitol. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

(Newser)
–
The Chicago way? The daughter of an Illinois state lawmaker faces three felony counts of aggravated battery over an alleged assault on a rival that involved a bottle and a staple gun, the Chicago Tribune reports. Robert Zwolinski says that earlier this month, he confronted Jessica Soto, daughter of Democratic Rep. Cynthia Soto, and her boyfriend when he saw them stapling her re-election posters outside his campaign headquarters in Chicago. Prosecutors say that after the verbal confrontation, the couple punched and kicked Zwolinski before Soto "squeezed his genital area," hit him with a beer bottle, and used the staple gun on his face.

"Politics is a contact sport. Apparently that's literally the case," Zwolinski wrote after posting a gruesome photo of the attack's aftermath on Facebook. He tells the Washington Post that after the March 6 beating, which left him with a broken nose, he needed stitches and a tetanus shot—and the ER team had to deal with their first-ever staple removal job. Zwolinski went on to lose the Democratic primary election to Cynthia Soto. A lawyer for Soto's daughter and her boyfriend, who are both 26, tells ABC 7 that his clients are innocent and if Zwolinski is "going around saying a girl beat him up, that's really sad ... maybe it's good that he lost the race." Zwolinski says he hasn't given up on politics and he will try to win Soto's seat next time around.